The text this morning is from John’s first epistle, the third chapter:
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! And He is indeed risen, showing his great love for you. For greater love has no man than this, that He lay His life down for His friends. And so He has. Christ laid His life down that He might pick it up again. He died that He might live. He died for our forgiveness, and rose for our justification. There is no greater love than this, that He would lay down His life in order that He would spend eternity with you.
Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. It’s a special day, falling right in the middle of our Easter season. The Lamb who was slain is our Good Shepherd. It’s not that Jesus was born a lamb, so to speak, but that He became a lamb. He put down His shepherd’s crook and put our wool upon Himself. He laid aside His divinity that He might be one of us, one with us. He became a lamb that He might be the sacrifice. He took the place of all the lambs slain in the Temple. He took the place that was prepared for you. He gave all that He might save you.
We see love this day, Christ’s love for you, that you might see it and believe. We see love in such a way that the Shepherd dies for the sheep. This is a foolish thing. A shepherd who risks His life to save the life of a sheep, when another sheep will come from the foaling the next year, is foolish. Yet, His deep and abiding love is there to guide and protect you, to save you. And if His sacrifice does not touch your heart, you should check your pulse to see if you are still breathing.
Our Great Shepherd has done this marvelous thing and it opens up new paths of righteousness for us. His sacrifice has made it so that we might live in the way He would have for us. The 23rd psalm tells it well. With Christ as our Shepherd, we shall not want. We shall have rest in a place where we may eat our fill. He leads us to safe places, where the water flows not swiftly, but silently, easily, that we may drink and be washed and not fear the torrents. We rest in Him and His protection. We follow His paths. Even though death follows us in this world, we need fear nothing for our Shepherd not only guides us, but protects us from the snares of the evil one. With His rod, He beats away the devil and his minions, and with His staff, He brings us back on the path when we stray, and we are comforted. We feast, even while our enemies surround us and threaten us. We have time to be cleansed and prepared for life, His oil beautifying us and preparing us for the great things to come. We feast and feast and there is not end. With Christ, we shall always be blessed by the mercy of God, and we are welcomed in the House of the Lord, the Church, forever.
This is love, my friends, and it shows us what we are now to do: we lay down our lives for each other. This doesn’t just mean that you would take a bullet for someone, or that you would die for them. But it means that you give up all your rights as a free person in Christ for another. The old joke is that the church wants to replace the carpet, so they form a committee. They meet for weeks and weeks and weeks, debating, arguing, looking at samples, getting quotes, until finally they decide to get the exact same thing. It’s a stereotype, and it’s one that, unfortunately, outsiders looks at churches and know goes on. But, the reality is, if all the members were behaving as Christians, they wouldn’t look just at what was most pleasing to the eye, what was the best deal, what was the best quality, they would ask others what they would prefer and then defer to their judgment. The Church lays down its life, its preferences, its rights, for the sake of peace and love.
If you want to hold tight to your freedom, your decisions, your preferences, well, that’s not love. You’ve closed your heart off against your brothers and sisters, and you have not the love of God in you. You can pay lip service to the whole thing, but ask yourself, seriously, are you living that out? Are you giving way to what your brother or sister needs? Are you showing them through your actions, are you demonstrating it through your confession? The only time we do not give up our position is when it comes to defending the truth, doctrinal, Biblical truth. There, we give up no ground, for we stand firm on the Word of God.
When we give ourselves over to our brothers and sisters, we shall know that we are of that very Truth of Christ. Our hearts are laid bare before God and before others. You know the old song, And They’ll Know We are Christians by Our Love? This is love, that we would lay down our lives for the sake of others. We live in a God-fearing way, that we should follow in the example of Christ. When He has given to you all that we see in the 23rd Psalm, what more do you need? What more should you insist on?
And when we find that we fail in this, when we are selfish and rude and petty, our God is yet greater than our sin. You may stand confidently before God and others and repent. And there, you shall always find the forgiveness of sins. When we sin, when we insist upon our own way, this is not love. Yet, if the love of Christ lives in you, confessing your sins and finding the absolution, whether that be from an individual or from the pastor, is the most joyous thing in the world, for it sets you free to love again.
Look, John isn’t saying that you have to be perfect before God. He’s saying that you are perfect before God. He’s saying you do obey God’s commandments. He’s not denying that you sin, he is saying confess your sins, and God, who is faithful and just, will forgive you sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. There, when your sins is taken away, when your guilt, your shame, your selfishness is taken away, when it is all forgiven, what’s left? Nothing but the love of Christ which dwells in you richly. Because you are forgiven, God sees the righteousness of Christ in you, and He blesses you through this.
Should you forget it, God has given to you His Word to bring you back, He’s given to you His Spirit to guide you into all truth, He’s given His Son to doe for you, He’s given His Church to feed you, to wash you, to sustain you through His very gifts. And all of this, all of it, is because of the love of the Great Shepherd who lays His life down for the sheep. Shouldn’t we follow in the same example? Shouldn’t we do that which Christ has done for each other?
It’s hard, I know. It’s the hardest thing you’ll ever have to do, to put yourself to the side and pick up your brothers and sisters. But that is our calling; it is our Christian duty. And you will do it, not just because it’s a “Thus sayeth the Lord,” but because, having been converted to faith in Christ, having put your trust in Him for your salvation and everlasting life, you will want to do it. You will put your wife first, not because you think she’s right, but because you love her. You’ll put your children first, not because hearing “no” for the thousandth time that day is fun, but because you love them. You’ll put your students first, not because they deserve it, but because you love them. You’ll put your friends first, not because they’re faithful to you, but because you love them. You’ll put your brothers and sisters in this place first, not because they’re always the wisest, not because they’re always at their best, not because it’s easy, but because you love them. That’s what Christians do, because Christ is doing that already inside of you.
You are Christ’s, my friends. Just as He is risen from the grave, just as He is ascended to the right hand of the Father, so, too, does He also dwell in you, speaking to you through His Word and sustaining you with His Sacraments. He has made you His own. We are all sheep of our Great Shepherd, and we follow where He leads, the paths of righteousness. Walking along that path isn’t easy, and yes, you will stumble, you will sin. But the Shepherd’s crook is there, not to beat you, but to grab you by the leg and guide you back onto the path until you reach the end, the verdant fields where we shall graze and feast forever. This is eternal life, and our Lord is leading us there day by day, even giving us a foretaste of that feast when we gather together. That last day is quickly coming, and you know this is true, for He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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